November 11, 2020 • 41 mins
'Hello, friends.' In this episode of the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon, Shane is joined by the voice of the Masters, Jim Nantz! Jim opens up sharing his traditions when he arrives at Augusta National and talks about his expectations without patrons in attendance. Then, Jim discusses one of his favorite broadcast moments of his career, the 1992 Masters won by Fred Couples, and lastly, touches on what Bryson DeChambeau is doing in the game of golf. Follow Shane on Twitter @ShaneBacon
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon, a production of
I Heart Radio. Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon.
I am your host, Shane Bacon. And this week, well
it's Master's Week. That's the rumor. It's Master's Wednesday. Typically
(00:23):
it is Part three Contest Day. That's not gonna happen
this year. But good news, I've got a replacement for
your Part three Contest Blues, the iconic Jim Nance, the voice.
She'll here for the next four days watching the Masters.
Joins for the first time on the Clubhouse, and we
talked about Augusta in November. We talked about some differences
and changes you'll see without patrons out on the golf course,
(00:44):
and we dove deep into nine two and Jim tells
an unbelievable story about Fred Couples, not just the week
that he wins at Augusta National and wins the Masters,
but the week before and what what Fred Couples was
doing with Jim Nance and uh and getting into a
little bit of trouble together having a little bit of
fun as a couple of thirty year olds. I think
you'll enjoy the story if you haven't heard it. Already
(01:05):
and uh, and we finish with a little Bryson talk.
As per a contract all golf personalities have to have.
Now you've got to talk about Bryson at some point
in a half an hour conversation, or you get fired
and you get evicted. That's it's really gotten pretty brutal,
really in this world. But I hope you enjoy it.
I've never had Jim on He is, in my opinion,
(01:26):
the voice of golf. He has been for the last
three decades, and he is an unbelievable guy by all accounts.
He's an unbelievable host, he's an unbelievable play by play personality,
and an unbelievable person So I hope you enjoy it.
I am fired up for the Masters. I wanted to
just quickly let you know a couple of things. One is,
(01:46):
had a great Get a Grip podcast this week with
Max Homa. Of course, that's my other podcast I do
with my heart. Just look it up. It's called Get
a Grip with Max Holm and Shane Bacon. But this
is Max's first Masters. And if you want to hear,
if you ever want to think, inc what would it
sound like if I was playing in the Master's Listen
to this week's Get a Grip because Max we recorded
it the monday after he played his first ever practice
(02:08):
run an Augusta Nashville. He'd never been on the grounds
at Augusta Nashville before. So again, if you want to
hear passion and you want to hear somebody excited like
we would be if we were getting a chance to
play Augusta, go listen to that podcast. The second thing
I want to tell you is that I've mentioned it before,
but Venue is a new app. It's basically it's it's
(02:30):
basically it and in less words, then I can put
together and glue together. It is a place you can
go and have a very similar conversation to what you
get on a lot of social media sites. But about
the one thing you're caring about. That one thing this
week is the tournament I mentioned, So make sure you
download Venue. I'm gonna be on it all week. We're
doing it a little bit different than we've done in
(02:52):
the past. Typically it's the final round. Its three hours
we're in there chatting with polls and pictures and videos
and having a conversation. This is gonna be all week long,
a chance to just be involved in Venue. There are
gonna be times where we hop in. There's gonna be
times where we hop out. I know, the shotgun start
guys are gonna be in there as well. Just check
it out, you know, immerse yourself in Venue. Go to
get Venue dot app and you can download that on
(03:15):
i Os or Android. And it's a great experience as
a second screen experience. This week, I know it's gonna
be a third or fourth screen experience. That's okay. I
know you've got a tablet. I know you've got a laptop.
You know, I know you've got a TV. You've got
a chance to watch all of the feeds that you
want to have in your face, as you should, considering
it's the Masters. But the phone, the Venue phone, have
it on. You know, you'll laugh uncontrollably at all of
(03:37):
our jokes, I'm sure, but it is. It is a
fun experience to have along with obviously watching you know,
the biggest event in golf. So I urge you to
go to get Venue dot app, download it, enjoy it
experience that I'll be involved all week long, and that
really is all I got. Check out, get a grip,
download Venue, Get excited, Go to Instagram at Shane Bacon.
(03:59):
I'm continue you and my Hat of the Day, Hat
of the Week Masters edition, where I have a different
Master's hat for each day. It's actually sad I have
seven Masters hats to go along with Masters Week. But
you know, if you know anything about me, you know
that I have a hat issue. So that there you go.
That's it. Let's get to the legend and we welcome
to the clubhouse for the first time. Jim Nance. Jim Nance,
(04:20):
of course, is the voice of golf for CBS Sports
and will be the host of the Masters starting on
Thursday for his thirty third straight year, thirty five consecutive
Masters and Jim, I'm assuming this one is easily the
most different Masters you've had the honor of covering in
your career. I would say it's not even close. It's
everything about it's going to feel and look a little
(04:42):
bit different. But I think once we get to the
weekend and we've got a green jacket on the line,
it's going to feel to the viewer at home very normal.
All the familiarity with the holes, the players, what's at stake.
I think all of these kind of pre tournament stories
are gonna watch away and we'll be getting back to
that feeling of high drama for uh for a green jacket. Yeah.
(05:07):
Do you personally have a tradition or something you always
do first when you get to Augusta National for Masters Week?
I know, I know normally it's a little busy because
you're doing the n c Double A event, you know,
you're doing the n E tournament, and then you're you're
flying there quickly. But do you have a jim Nance tradition?
I too, I do, I have a lot. I think
that I'm not the only one that kind of has
(05:30):
a little ritual that that I go through. I think
others that have been here repeatedly kind of find their
favorite things to do. And if you mentioned how it's different,
just the very fact that I'm not coming off of
calling fifteen games in the last some twenty seven days
or twenty three days. I think it is normally from
the Big ten tournament through the n c A tournament
(05:52):
and coming in here looking for my second wind and
and and adrenaline boost, which always get the minute I
stepped foot on property. Uh, but yeah, I'm usually coming
in on on Tuesday. This past year had all of
this bad dream never happened. I would have been coming
in from Atlanta, which of course is the dream scenario
for me, the championship game and Final four ward schedule
(06:12):
for Mercedes ben Stadium, and I would have been down
Monday night after the game. But now I come in
off of a football game, so that's a little different.
But on Wednesday, but which is the day that we're talking.
I have always had this little personal tradition. It's been
over thirty years of walking down to to Amen Corner
and walking across the Hogan and Nelson Bridges. I started
(06:35):
it with Venturi, with Ken Ventury, something that we used
to kind of make an annual track and he would
he would tell stories and and and I just kind
of made it my own. Obviously, Ken last broadcasted and
O two. But yeah, I go across the bridges and
you're away from everybody, and I gotta stand there and
look back over the entire course and and say a
(06:57):
little prayer of thanks and appreciation for being there. It's
still kind of hard to believe that that I got
the lucky ticket to be able to come to the
Masters so many years ago and been able to come
back so many times. I never take it for granted.
So it's a quiet, prayerful moment of introspection and and
then I get right back into the mode of all right,
what do we gotta do? What what's the you know,
(07:19):
what are the stories, and and what's the schedule look like?
Because it's busy, We're running, we've got late night shows,
we've got live shots in the morning when the first
honorary shots are struck, and composing openings and teases and
talking to players and all of that I love and relish,
and I'm ready to get into it right now, when
you know, when the time allows. Well, the one thing
(07:41):
I know about the Masters in augusta National specifically, is
that they'll surprise the world with the new technology or
a building or a driving range without a lot of
fanfare headed into it. I know, losing patrons for Masters
week is disappointing for everybody. It's appropriate and necessary, but disappointing.
I could see a guy us to turning that into
a huge positive, do you hear? Do you know? Are
(08:04):
you're expecting to unveil some some different things this week
considering you're not going to have all those people out
on the golf course, you know, watching and and and
I don't want to say being in the way, but
you know, patrons are there, and camera people have a
harder time getting to where they need to be. So
is there anything that will look different considering there aren't
going to be people on the golf course? I think, Shane,
(08:26):
basically every single hole is going to have a different
optic to it in the past, because your your shots
are always framed with thousands of people lining the faraways
and circling the green. So I think they're gonna be
some open looks that just are going to end up
in in the lens of every one of our camera operators.
I think that I don't even know where to begin,
but with no grandstands and no rope lines, it's already
(08:50):
going to just be just drastically different to the guys
sitting at home. And I think that's exciting. I don't
think we have to work too hard to to create something.
Just just think of when when you look at a
whole like UM sixteen, and and and and normally what
you're seeing on that left hill side, on the other
(09:11):
side of the water and behind the green to the right,
that's just not going to be anyone there, And that
goes on. So many holes that are are are usually
just tack the patrons and some of the great viewpoint holes.
We haven't really had a look at what it feels
like to the player beyond when they're not playing their
practice rounds in March. This is what it's going to
(09:32):
feel like to them from those those those preparation rounds.
So I'm I'm really looking forward to that. I don't
know about any surprises. You know, obviously they've opened up
the the merchandise to the public online and and hey,
it's it's been a busy stretch just getting to the
start here, making sure everybody's tested, and sadly, you know,
we lost a couple of players the positive tests, and
(09:56):
it's just the the emphasis on safety and protocols dictates
a lot of things. I will be very restrictive where
I'm able to tell I don't anticipate really having much
access of any at all with the players. Won't be
going into the clubhouse this week, so you know, people
keep their distance, and you know, we'll get on the
(10:16):
air and try to try to make this tournament feel
as as as normal as as it always is. And
I really firmly believe it will once we get it started.
It's going to be just great to be back to
the competition and not to have to concern ourselves with
all the other things that have been leading us into
the tournament. What is the one thing you're hearing you're
seeing about the golf course that will feel or will
(10:39):
play different than typically Augusta plays in April Masters. I
think the thing is is just the amount of moisture
that that's been here early in the week and you know,
going on through Thursday for sure, and probably a little
bit every day is just going to make this course
extremely long. I've had had a lot of feedback from
(11:02):
from from members that have known through the years about
how it always plays longer anyway in November, the ball
doesn't fly as far, etcetera, etcetera. But uh, I think
that's gonna be it. I think you also have this
changeover of of of grasses, and it's I'm hearing already
(11:22):
from some of the transcripts I read and and some
of the things that I see on Golf Channel. It's
just the shots around the green are feeling different to
the players. The little chip shots are are not going
to be It's just not going to be the same.
It's uh, it's just a it's a different time of
year and it's not going to affect the way these
players are able to pull that off, but it's it's
(11:45):
different for them. There's no question, Jim, can you pass
along a message to all the players in the field
and remind them, as a guy that doesn't have a
hole in one, that would be really nice if they
stopped skipping it in the hole. For one, I'm so
sick of seeing these videos. How good are these guys.
It's unbelievable that well, I mean, what a week for
rom before the tourney gets started. But that shot. Uh.
(12:09):
I used to by the way, I love to go
out there and as I was in early enough on
a Tuesday, depending on where the championship game was, and
I often would be I could be on the big
course by eleven or twelve on on Tuesday, and I
often would go out to sixteen just just watching the
players have fun doing that. The skip shots. You know
(12:31):
you're a good player, I know you're you've got a
lot of game, But that's not that easy to do.
I mean, it's just if not, I mean, if you
try to you try to skip a shot, and you know,
the thing just just takes a dive right into the water,
never reappears. Um, but the shot by rom My Gosh,
that that's just insane. And I love the fact that
(12:54):
it happened leading into the tournament and certainly got a
lot of people fired up for the event, even Moore.
We're gonna take a quick break and be right back.
I wanted to go back to ninety two, Jim, And
I know you get a lot of questions. I know
(13:15):
you've talked plenty about your relationship with Fred Couples and
you guys in college and chatting about possibly being in
this in this position before. Maybe I missed this, but
I had never read or seen the Final Four story
until this week as I was prepping for the podcast.
Can you enlighten people on Fred Couple's job if you will?
A few days before he went on to win a
(13:37):
green jacket. Yeah, well that was something we had talked
about a long time, and he was the co runner
with Blaine McAllister. Now, you don't blame because you follow
the game so closely, and Blaine's playing uh on the
senior Tour events now, but he won five regular tour
events in his day, and and and and Blaine and
(13:58):
Freddy both came to many app plus it was the year.
It was the year that Duke was going for back
to back championships and standing in their way. Ultimately, on
Monday night, with five freshmen from the University of Michigan,
the Fab five, so that was the final four, they
came to Minneapolis. And they actually traveled there with Dick Harmon,
(14:21):
the late Dick Harman, such a great guy. And Charlie Epps,
who was Blaine's teacher and later Annell Cabrara's helped an
heel in a green jacket. So, uh, the short of
it is, on on Saturday, they were credential, and uh,
it was just a bunch of college kids basically all
over again, living out a dream. You know, they knew
(14:44):
from my days sitting in top Hall t a U
B top Hall. Uh in our little in our little
dorm suite that sounds glamorous, and you say the word sweet,
It wasn't. Trust me. It was like an alarmy barrack.
But we were in rooms one oh one on one
oh three. Uh, and and all of a sudden, even
though we're now a little more than ten years removed
(15:05):
from that. We're just kids again. I can remember staying
at the downtown Minneapolis hotel and the site for the
games was the the the the the Metrodome and many
and it was a good one mile walk maybe uh
as memory serves, but that's no longer. The structure is
(15:25):
long gone. But we decided to walk. It was a
nice day, you know, and early April and Minneapolis, and
we walked and they took turns carrying my briefcase and uh,
you know, they had ball caps on, and they were
having fun with the fact that, uh, you know, their buddy. Uh.
They were going to make me into a big shot.
They're gonna try to create this r like hey, folks
(15:48):
with the tide place, you know, the sidewalk, and people
weren't recognizing them. You know, it was like excuse me,
like they were running interference and security for me. Excuse me,
excuse me, jim Nance's and you know, which is embarrassings
can be. But we got to the arena and we
found their seat locations, which would actually would be right
to the side of us. I was calling the games
back in those days with the great Billy Packer, just
(16:10):
a dear, dear friend and a legend, and I had
those days were just glorious for me. But Billy was
a big golfer. His son Brand you probably know as
I'm really talented, the producer for NBC and Golf Channel.
I'm so proud of his career. But Billy was always
(16:31):
into the game. So he gave them a few assignments
when we first got there. Okay, guys, I don't have
the latest stats on on Indiana. Did you go back
in and bring those out? And you know, they thought
he was being serious. He had them truly running, go
get this, go get that. Uh, jim me, what do
you need? He did a cup of coffee. Yeah, and
they both would take off. You know, one of them
(16:52):
wasn't capable of going and getting a coffee, so they
took their role very seriously. It was a bit though unfortunate,
as we got closer to the first tip. The other
teams there besides Michigan and Duke were Cincinnati with Nick
van Exel and UH In Indiana, Bob Knight had a
team in there um that made a great rally on Saturday,
(17:14):
almost got got through to the championship game. But people
started to recognize, of course, spread especially in the media.
He was writing number one in the world at the time.
Game he had already won a couple of turns to
see One Bay Hill, as I recalled, by like nine shots.
Maybe he had won l A. I believe that was
one of the years he contended, was in a playoff
(17:37):
with Davis. So he's ranked number one in the world
at that time. And now here he was days before
the Masters week and yeah, he's working as a runner.
And that night, on Saturday night, after the game's ended, Uh,
they they I don't know what their plan was, but
they ended up sleeping on a sofa and on the
(17:59):
floor and alternating between my room and it's that downtown
hotel and sleeping uh in the concierge. Uh well right
there right there on on the same flour that I
was residing. So just a couple of kids, it's what
it was, you know, in our early thirties. And on
Sunday they were still talking about maybe sticking around for
(18:21):
the Monday game. Sunday they both came down to to
get some practice. Freddie showed up wearing an Indiana cap.
I think Bob Knight came over and said something at
the table. Um, yeah, I don't. I don't think I
finished that, but a lot of the media saw fred
there and it became almost like an impromptu series of interviews.
(18:41):
You'd get the national writers like John Feinstein who was
there covering games, and Mike Lupa, and it was like
one after another. And I don't think the n c
A like that too much. It was kind of taken
away from their event and the celebrity runner role was
kind of eliminated. That was it. That was the end
(19:01):
of that. I was I was waiting for you to
now ask Dustin Johnson to get you a WiFi password
or something. And I just did a little different, a
little different I could use, you know. But I can
remember when Freddie last I said, I do remember, and
he would remember this too. I just I try to
be uh judicious and when I put a thought into
(19:22):
his head, and that was throughout his career. You try
to send a little messages like you went back in college,
you know, as a friend, just a word of encouragement.
So I know, the last thing I said to him
on Sunday was, Hey, this is the week man, this
is the week that we we used to practice and rehearse.
So I'll see you, but I'll see you for sure
Sunday in Butler Cavin. I've used that line a few
(19:43):
other times on some other guys, you know, I'll see
a Sunday talking about the cabin. But first I've ever
said it was to Fredday, just to give him a thought,
get him back in a little cough mindset and let
him know that this was the time. And April the twelve,
that's Sunday, it was this time. It was just an amazing,
amazing experience to watch your friend reach reach that lifetime
(20:06):
goal and just like get At times of my life
I think about that is like the most special moment
of my career is to be able to be in
the cabin and watch someone that you love as a
brother achieved that moment. It was. It was very special.
It always will be. And I can imagine as special
(20:27):
as it was as a broadcaster, as someone fairly new
to this job, this role, it was probably in a
way tough to be objective to not, you know, throw
yourself right into it, because I mean it was I'm
imagining you being emotional and you've been so into every shot,
the ball hanging up on the hill there at twelve,
I mean it probably was difficult to do your job
(20:50):
well and balance both roles. They had to finish the
third round on Sunday that here Reddy was playing with
Craig Barry, so it was very much like the conditions
this week. Of course, I had a lot of water
on it. Uh But yeah, he's to spark some thoughts.
I can remember really late in the broadcast, I was
(21:11):
getting jittery about about this pending possible green jacket ceremony
and the weight of it. It sounds silly, but you know,
you do these interviews so well, and you know you
do think him through and you want to do them right.
You want to do him professionally. But I began to
kind of overthink it and process it. And uh so
(21:33):
after he played in the morning with Craig Perry and
he was in a battle with Raymond Floyd in the
final round, and around the fourteen or fifteen fold, I
started to get us since that this was actually going
to happen. And I believe it was been right. It
was that uh you know fifteen back in those days,
he brought me in at some point. I was only
(21:58):
in butler cabin at that time. It's not like today.
A work, I do Butler Cabin and run up to
the eighteenth and then come back for the end of
the show into the cabin. I was just the host,
and uh, I would interview players and bring us on
the air and things like that. There's some resets out
of out of commercials. But Ben asked me a question
about you've known Freddie a long time, what would this
(22:18):
moment like to him? And I've never gone back and
watched the broadcast, in part because it gets me nervous.
I get that anxious feeling. But I remember not answering
that question on the air, UH with much area. Addition,
I sounded h less than I think professional. Maybe it
(22:41):
wasn't I inserted any personal beliefs. It's just I just
I don't think I sounded as though I was an
experienced broadcaster. This was my seventh Masters at this point, uh,
it was going to be my fifth Green Jacket presentation,
and I realized was so focused on what he was doing.
(23:02):
I wasn't ready and it was probably a thirty second answer.
I would love to have back again. I guess one
of these days, maybe I'll go back and hear what
I said. But I remember kicking myself a little bit
in saying and that was not like high quality commentary,
and uh, you know, you gotta get a grip here, man,
you pretty soon you're gonna be on camera trying to
get through this. So and when came into the cabin,
(23:25):
it was hard. It was truly the hardest thing I've
ever had to do in my career. And I grew
from it. As you know, I think it's true in
any walk of life when you face an adversity, let's
just isolate it here to your job, and you get
through it, and you get stronger, and you you get
tougher because you were able to survive it. That's probably
(23:46):
not the right word, but you grow from it, you
learn from it. That particular situation in the cabin, I
really felt like I was on the brink of a meltdown,
like just a like overjoyed and so emotional avount it
meant to Fred. I really thought it might have a
hard time kind of holding it together, but I did.
(24:06):
And I didn't say anything on a personal level until
the very end my last questions. As Frank J. Kennyan said,
last question and give him the jacket into my earpiece,
I said, I think back to our days at the
University of Houston. I wanted to get a lot of
the guys kind of into this moment somehow, to be
represented there. I think of Paul Marshawan, who is here
(24:29):
this week and remains Freddie's teacher and a former teammate
and greatest guy of all time. I think of Paul Marshaun.
I think of Blame McCalister, I think of John Horne,
even I. We all used to say someday, You're gonna
look great in a green jacket. And Fred put his
hand over his eyes to shield his ability to look
(24:50):
at me, and really turned his head too away and said, well,
you know, Fred always kind of starts things out with
a well and buys himself from time. And he said, well,
I always kind of this was the tournament meant the most,
and I always thought I could play. It was a
very pedestrian kind of straight answer, because Fred was feeling
(25:10):
the same thing that I was. We write about it
post with many times. He was afraid of that interview.
He was afraid that he could hold it together. But
he did. And I turned it over to Mr Stevens,
Jack Stevens, and I was still in such stunned belief.
I didn't even get out of my chair. I don't
know why everybody was standing up was saying the cream jacket.
(25:34):
I was still sitting down like I was in days
and and I said something on the air about it's
a perfect fit. I think they had given him a
jacket that would have fit Woozy, who was a champion.
It was about gysically Lowe's elbows that Fred was about
to say, well, not really, um, but we we signed
off and had a hug. I didn't realize the cameras
(25:56):
were still honest, and it was a magical, magical, magical day,
my favorite, my favorite day of my career, really, really amazing.
I've got a couple more questions. I know you're you're
a little tight on time, but I got a couple
more for you, if that's okay. Sure, I did. I
did want to throw this atches so I do a podcast.
You actually just said the name of the podcast while
you were talking. By the way, I'm assuming we're gonna
(26:18):
cut that and probably use it over and over again
all the time. The podcast is called Get a Grip.
I do it with Maxhoma in the field this week,
and I'm not gonna lie to you when I say
I may or may not have sent an all caps
text message to him yesterday when the parents came out,
because he gets Fred couples this week, and I was thinking,
you know, Freddie has to be a top five pick
(26:38):
for anybody playing in their first Masters for a Thursday
and Friday grouping. I mean, it's you couldn't ask for
someone better to play with. You know, Max is from California,
He's a Dodgers fan. I just feel like that's gonna
make Max more comfortable getting a chance to walk around
Augusta National with this legend of the place. I think
that you read on that as accurate, and I'm excited.
(27:01):
I saw that too, and I look forward to getting
to know Max better in the years ahead. And that's
going to be a a big couple of days for him.
And he did draw the perfect guy to play with
because Fred will be so concerned. Of course, we'll care
about his own game, but this is who he is.
He'll be overly generous to make sure Max feels super
(27:24):
comfortable and he and I know Max will will enjoy
having the chance to talk to someone and maybe divert
some of the pressure into things like the Dodgers, and
you've got the most willing guy in the world to
be able to talk about, you know, not only the
golf course and situations and the pressure of it, but
(27:45):
when it comes to sports, Fred's memory bank runs really deep.
So I'm excited for Max for that, for that pairing.
And yeah, he won't be h he won't be melting
down like like I was. He he will he will
have a rip and I hope he plays great. I hope,
I hope so as well. The last thing, and I
had to bring it up. I mean, we've gone twentysomething
(28:07):
minutes and haven't mentioned a name, and it's not the name.
Probably most people think I gotta bring up Bryson. You know.
I think a lot of people see you working with
Tony Romo, you know, in these these football games for
for the NFL, and you know, Tony has so much energy.
I feel like it you feed off his energy and
both of your energy levels go up because of Tony
(28:27):
and how good he is at his job. I almost
feel like Bryson is a little like that. With golf.
The energy level of all of us getting a chance
to talk about it has ramped up because of this
new Bryson, and now we get to see him play
the golf course that we all were excited to see
him play with this new distance. How much fun has
it been for you to get to call Bryson's play
(28:50):
this year and watch this, you know, takeover of the game,
this completely new approach to golf where let's hit it
four D yards and see how we can do well.
You probably thought that you were leading me down the
road in a question about Tiger, but when you started
to say I'm gonna bring up a name, I actually
(29:11):
the first name that I thought you're gonna bring up
was Bryson. Is the show? Is the show? And we
had well, I broadcast ten tournaments over the summer. He
won one of them, uh in quite a bryson Es fashion.
That was at Detroit Golf Club when he won the
Rocket Mortgage, and then he finished fourth at at the
(29:34):
p G Championship. So those were a couple of times
where I really got to see Bryson in the heat
of it. And of course I have other years too,
But this is the new Bryson and it's changing the game,
and it really is coming at a time where we
don't know how much longer we're going to have Tiger
(29:57):
competing at the highest level. I hope it's for a
long time. And I'm the last guy that's ever gonna
say it's fading away. I'm gonna give him every chance
to keep going for another five or ten years, as
long as he's healthy. But I've often wondered, what will
the game look like when that whatever that day is,
when Tiger is not the first story? You know, is
(30:18):
the game going to be in good hands? Well, I
really feel like with this brigade of twenty somethings that
are out there, the game is kind of established words
going with the next generation. And then on top of it,
you've got what Bryce is doing, and it is it
is such a show that the game is going to
(30:41):
have something at its center as far as an attraction
and attention grab and it's going to last a long time.
And now, yeah, you're right, is is this going to
get other guys to try to follow this this approach?
I write a column every month for golf tyed Us
and it's been a real honor to to try to
(31:03):
comple together a few thoughts and I've been doing it
for a couple of years. And when he wanted Detroit
that night. I was curious what the deadline was on
the next issue, which would be coming out August one.
The tournament was at the end of June, but you
have some advanced deadlines everything. I already had submitted my
column for that next issue. I called Guy Yoakum, who
(31:25):
was just a tremendous guy to work with. I said, Guy,
is there any wiggle room here? Ken I put together
a column quickly on Bryson. I'll check. He got back
and said, you will. Basically, you have today Monday. You
have Monday that they've already kind of bind it up
and everything. I sat down, and I'm not kidding. I
wrote in one hour a column about Bryson and how
(31:48):
he at that point, I've never had a top ten
in a major. He had an eleventh somewhere, but he
had never had a top ten officially. But I said
some things such as, you know, today's players better be careful.
Believe me, he is out to dominate. And I've been
around him enough to know that he's driven to be
the best. And it was a big endorsement of what
(32:10):
he was doing. And we got the column in and
the column came out. You know, days before the Harding Park,
and it really expressed some things that since that time
had kind of come true. Um, I saw it at Detroit.
I've seen the kid enough times. I've had enough interaction
with him where I felt like I knew what was
in his head and and and and trust me when
(32:32):
I say this, he's just getting started. You know. The
wingfoot thing was not on Oir. It was. It was
on NBC's air and it was an amazing broadcast, an
amazing performance by him to win by six. But it's
just getting started. And now as far as this week goes,
he's got a couple of nice things to fall back on.
I heard somebody say last night we was best finish
(32:54):
Eperduss was only time for one. Well. That happened at sixteen,
when he was an amateur. And I remember that year
really well because I had said something else in Golf
Digest in the months leading up to that Masters that
this similar, similar talk that I thought he could change
the game. I didn't know it's gonna be with his body.
I thought it's about the the the same length shafted club. Um.
(33:16):
But that year when he played here as an amateur
in turn Pro the followers week to thirty five holes.
He was in the last pairing on Friday. By the
times worked out. He stood on the tea on Friday
and he was in second alone and he his tea
shot never got through the tunnel. It rattled around in
the magnolia's and the pines off to the left of sea,
and he ended up incurring a penalty shot and ended
(33:39):
up taking a drop over by like eight t it
made a seven. But for thirty five holes as an amateur,
he was right there. Um, he hit me, he was,
he was in the mix and he finished twenty one.
Uh and don't forget last year he got off to
a great start, put together a six hundred part round.
(34:00):
He could play this course, he's played it well before.
He reinvented himself and um, I'm expecting big things. And
while we're just talking about him, and you can weigh
in on this, imagine if he does win this, what
this would mean to the game. If on Sunday he
walks away and he's one of the last two majors.
(34:20):
Holy smokes, what a time for the sport in terms
of drawing people to the game and wondering what's the
interest level gonna be after Tiger and all that kind
of thing. It will be, it would be just huge.
But he's gonna win here. It is not a question
in my mind. He's gonna win here, and it just
might be this week. Yeah, I'm with you on this.
(34:41):
I just feel like and I love that you brought
up you know, his plays and and or I remember
that Master so well. He was playing. I believe he
was playing with speed. And the story was this amateur
is you know, he knows history, he knows he knows
so much about golf. He loves everything about the the
olden times of golf, which is actually kind of ironic
now that he hits it, you know, four hundred yards
(35:01):
and he's using a forty eight inch driver. But you know,
this was a guy that was was an amateur, that
wasn't scared to try out new stuff, and all of
a sudden he was in the in the hunt at
the Masters, and to your point, he makes a seven
on eighteen and that was kind of the end of
his his bid to run. It reminded me a little
of the Tiger Run when he hit the flagstick, and
of course the penalty that came there on fifteen the year,
but it was it was wild to see. It's been
a lot of fun to watch. I feel like I
(35:23):
get more questions now about Bryson than I've ever received
about any professional golfer not named Tiger Woods. So yeah,
it's if nothing else, it's great for golf because it
allows us to see something we haven't seen much and
allows us to see the like you said, the future
of the game when Tiger and Phil and everybody moves on.
My last question, Jim, who has their name on your
(35:44):
backyard hole in one plaque? The most? Whose name is
there the most brand? Snedeker? Really, he's the uh He's
the first to make it twice. He was the first
to make it, so I had to go order up
a new plaque and he's at the top of the list.
On the on the Rock of Shame, it's called uh. Yeah,
(36:07):
it's been a lot of fun. I gotta get you
out there the next time. I know you were in
the area last December, unfortunately I was out of town,
but man, I'd love to have you come by and
not getting I've had some guys though they've tried and
you know, hit a small buck. I had a large
buck really try to make it and it still counts.
I don't care how many things. So you can sit
there all day until you make it, as far as
I'm concerned. But they're only a believe now of seventeen
(36:30):
names and are well here. Here's the thing. I'm never
gonna put my name, ok, never I I hit. You
gotta realize I hit hundreds of shots there every week.
So by dumb luck, I've made it, you know a
few times. So recently Freddie, in fact in October, was
(36:50):
out at double We had two great days, and he
was watching my four year old son Jamison hit Paul's.
He could not get on the green down stifty three
yards with a ball applies about um. But Freddie was
watching him, and my son has a unbelievably good good swing. Uh.
And then Freddie started hitting some shots, and I mean,
(37:13):
I have it all on the video. Was just awesome
to watch him. And it's not the first time obviously
he's hit balls up there. I wanted his name on
the rocket fame, and as dumb luck would have it,
I made it while hitting shots, you know, one after another,
we'd alternate shots and he didn't. So, uh, yeah, Fred's
not on there, but you know, we've got Nicholson, who,
(37:34):
of course one full blown social media with it, as
did Nick Faldough Poulters on the Pulses There Billy Horschel
first ever hall on one he made in his career,
by the way, he said, I'm gonna count as official.
I had never made a hall on but I'm going
to count it. Uh, And he's made one, sense but
that that will always be his first. Michael Wilbon made
(37:55):
it from ESPN. Great guy was out visiting doing a
charity thing and came up to the house and knocked
at the hole. So yeah, there and Snudge was the first,
and and and then he came back and made it
again last year. So I love that guy. I'm glad
to see his game is starting to surround into form
and it's been a tough fall for him losing his mom,
(38:17):
but I would love to see him play well this week.
We're missing the name Shane Bacon in the name Bacon
on there, I've we have a Bacon curse. It's a
family curse. Nobody none of my dad, my uncle, big golfers,
their entire lives, none of us have a one. So
maybe it's maybe it's the name's backyard that we need
to to pull that off, but Jim will count it
(38:39):
as official. I heard you say that earlier. Anytime he
goes in, it's official, that's what I say. But Jim,
I really appreciate the time. I know, I know you're
you're very busy. Thanks so much for for for the
time and the stories. I can't wait to watch it.
You know, we talk about a tradition unlike any other.
You in the jacket in the booth at Augusta is
the tradition. So we cannot wait to watch it. Really
(39:00):
is special to be a part of. You're nice to
say that, and I'm a big fan of yours, and
I appreciate your passion for the game. And uh, I
can relate so much too when I hear you relate
so much to kind of what runs through my veins
and my my. You know, this lifelong love affair with
the game. I know you have it and admire that
(39:21):
Mayer the way you're able to articulate it. Thanks for
having me on. Let's do it again sometime, absolutely anytime.
Thanks so much, Jim. We're gonna take a quick break
and be right back. A big, big thanks. I can't
(39:46):
thank him enough to Jim Nance for a joining on
a Wednesday. He joined Wednesday of Masters week to chat
about what's going to happen Thursday and beyond. So you
know what, if you see Jim Nance ever in your life,
just give him a high five or even a thumbs up,
because he's obviously a great fella and a great dude
and an unbelievable broadcaster. And uh and two things in
my life now I want to accomplish and I could
(40:07):
do both in the same place. I want to make
a hole in one and I want to make a
hole in one in Jim Nance's backyard. So just make
it in his backyard, and you check both the boxes.
Have a great week. Enjoy this again. This is so
unique and so different. The year has been all over
the place. We have all dealt with so many issues,
(40:28):
so many things, you know, so many stressful moments, so
many testing and trying moments in our lives. Enjoy this.
Enjoy the couch. Get your kiddo, if they're not a
golf fan, to sit with you for half an hour
and watch it. Get your husband or your wife or
a friend to just be a part of a November Masters.
This is going to be great. It's gonna be beautiful,
(40:50):
it's gonna be unique, and I just urge you to really,
really really live in the moment for the next four
days as I hope to do, because I am fired
up in and for a for a unique back to
back Master's experience. Have a great week, Good luck in
your pools, good luck if you're going out early or
late to play a little bit of golf, and we
will check in with you. Following the two thousand twenty Masters.
(41:15):
The clubhouse was Shane Bacon as a production of I
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon, a production of
I Heart Radio. Welcome to the Clubhouse with Shane Bacon.
I am your host, Shane Bacon. And this week, well
it's Master's Week. That's the rumor. It's Master's Wednesday. Typically
(00:23):
it is Part three Contest Day. That's not gonna happen
this year. But good news, I've got a replacement for
your Part three Contest Blues, the iconic Jim Nance, the voice.
She'll here for the next four days watching the Masters.
Joins for the first time on the Clubhouse, and we
talked about Augusta in November. We talked about some differences
and changes you'll see without patrons out on the golf course,
(00:44):
and we dove deep into nine two and Jim tells
an unbelievable story about Fred Couples, not just the week
that he wins at Augusta National and wins the Masters,
but the week before and what what Fred Couples was
doing with Jim Nance and uh and getting into a
little bit of trouble together having a little bit of
fun as a couple of thirty year olds. I think
you'll enjoy the story if you haven't heard it. Already
(01:05):
and uh, and we finish with a little Bryson talk.
As per a contract all golf personalities have to have.
Now you've got to talk about Bryson at some point
in a half an hour conversation, or you get fired
and you get evicted. That's it's really gotten pretty brutal,
really in this world. But I hope you enjoy it.
I've never had Jim on He is, in my opinion,
(01:26):
the voice of golf. He has been for the last
three decades, and he is an unbelievable guy by all accounts.
He's an unbelievable host, he's an unbelievable play by play personality,
and an unbelievable person So I hope you enjoy it.
I am fired up for the Masters. I wanted to
just quickly let you know a couple of things. One is,
(01:46):
had a great Get a Grip podcast this week with
Max Homa. Of course, that's my other podcast I do
with my heart. Just look it up. It's called Get
a Grip with Max Holm and Shane Bacon. But this
is Max's first Masters. And if you want to hear,
if you ever want to think, inc what would it
sound like if I was playing in the Master's Listen
to this week's Get a Grip because Max we recorded
it the monday after he played his first ever practice
(02:08):
run an Augusta Nashville. He'd never been on the grounds
at Augusta Nashville before. So again, if you want to
hear passion and you want to hear somebody excited like
we would be if we were getting a chance to
play Augusta, go listen to that podcast. The second thing
I want to tell you is that I've mentioned it before,
but Venue is a new app. It's basically it's it's
(02:30):
basically it and in less words, then I can put
together and glue together. It is a place you can
go and have a very similar conversation to what you
get on a lot of social media sites. But about
the one thing you're caring about. That one thing this
week is the tournament I mentioned, So make sure you
download Venue. I'm gonna be on it all week. We're
doing it a little bit different than we've done in
(02:52):
the past. Typically it's the final round. Its three hours
we're in there chatting with polls and pictures and videos
and having a conversation. This is gonna be all week long,
a chance to just be involved in Venue. There are
gonna be times where we hop in. There's gonna be
times where we hop out. I know, the shotgun start
guys are gonna be in there as well. Just check
it out, you know, immerse yourself in Venue. Go to
get Venue dot app and you can download that on
(03:15):
i Os or Android. And it's a great experience as
a second screen experience. This week, I know it's gonna
be a third or fourth screen experience. That's okay. I
know you've got a tablet. I know you've got a laptop.
You know, I know you've got a TV. You've got
a chance to watch all of the feeds that you
want to have in your face, as you should, considering
it's the Masters. But the phone, the Venue phone, have
it on. You know, you'll laugh uncontrollably at all of
(03:37):
our jokes, I'm sure, but it is. It is a
fun experience to have along with obviously watching you know,
the biggest event in golf. So I urge you to
go to get Venue dot app, download it, enjoy it
experience that I'll be involved all week long, and that
really is all I got. Check out, get a grip,
download Venue, Get excited, Go to Instagram at Shane Bacon.
(03:59):
I'm continue you and my Hat of the Day, Hat
of the Week Masters edition, where I have a different
Master's hat for each day. It's actually sad I have
seven Masters hats to go along with Masters Week. But
you know, if you know anything about me, you know
that I have a hat issue. So that there you go.
That's it. Let's get to the legend and we welcome
to the clubhouse for the first time. Jim Nance. Jim Nance,
(04:20):
of course, is the voice of golf for CBS Sports
and will be the host of the Masters starting on
Thursday for his thirty third straight year, thirty five consecutive
Masters and Jim, I'm assuming this one is easily the
most different Masters you've had the honor of covering in
your career. I would say it's not even close. It's
everything about it's going to feel and look a little
(04:42):
bit different. But I think once we get to the
weekend and we've got a green jacket on the line,
it's going to feel to the viewer at home very normal.
All the familiarity with the holes, the players, what's at stake.
I think all of these kind of pre tournament stories
are gonna watch away and we'll be getting back to
that feeling of high drama for uh for a green jacket. Yeah.
(05:07):
Do you personally have a tradition or something you always
do first when you get to Augusta National for Masters Week?
I know, I know normally it's a little busy because
you're doing the n c Double A event, you know,
you're doing the n E tournament, and then you're you're
flying there quickly. But do you have a jim Nance tradition?
I too, I do, I have a lot. I think
that I'm not the only one that kind of has
(05:30):
a little ritual that that I go through. I think
others that have been here repeatedly kind of find their
favorite things to do. And if you mentioned how it's different,
just the very fact that I'm not coming off of
calling fifteen games in the last some twenty seven days
or twenty three days. I think it is normally from
the Big ten tournament through the n c A tournament
(05:52):
and coming in here looking for my second wind and
and and adrenaline boost, which always get the minute I
stepped foot on property. Uh, but yeah, I'm usually coming
in on on Tuesday. This past year had all of
this bad dream never happened. I would have been coming
in from Atlanta, which of course is the dream scenario
for me, the championship game and Final four ward schedule
(06:12):
for Mercedes ben Stadium, and I would have been down
Monday night after the game. But now I come in
off of a football game, so that's a little different.
But on Wednesday, but which is the day that we're talking.
I have always had this little personal tradition. It's been
over thirty years of walking down to to Amen Corner
and walking across the Hogan and Nelson Bridges. I started
(06:35):
it with Venturi, with Ken Ventury, something that we used
to kind of make an annual track and he would
he would tell stories and and and I just kind
of made it my own. Obviously, Ken last broadcasted and
O two. But yeah, I go across the bridges and
you're away from everybody, and I gotta stand there and
look back over the entire course and and say a
(06:57):
little prayer of thanks and appreciation for being there. It's
still kind of hard to believe that that I got
the lucky ticket to be able to come to the
Masters so many years ago and been able to come
back so many times. I never take it for granted.
So it's a quiet, prayerful moment of introspection and and
then I get right back into the mode of all right,
what do we gotta do? What what's the you know,
(07:19):
what are the stories, and and what's the schedule look like?
Because it's busy, We're running, we've got late night shows,
we've got live shots in the morning when the first
honorary shots are struck, and composing openings and teases and
talking to players and all of that I love and relish,
and I'm ready to get into it right now, when
you know, when the time allows. Well, the one thing
(07:41):
I know about the Masters in augusta National specifically, is
that they'll surprise the world with the new technology or
a building or a driving range without a lot of
fanfare headed into it. I know, losing patrons for Masters
week is disappointing for everybody. It's appropriate and necessary, but disappointing.
I could see a guy us to turning that into
a huge positive, do you hear? Do you know? Are
(08:04):
you're expecting to unveil some some different things this week
considering you're not going to have all those people out
on the golf course, you know, watching and and and
I don't want to say being in the way, but
you know, patrons are there, and camera people have a
harder time getting to where they need to be. So
is there anything that will look different considering there aren't
going to be people on the golf course? I think, Shane,
(08:26):
basically every single hole is going to have a different
optic to it in the past, because your your shots
are always framed with thousands of people lining the faraways
and circling the green. So I think they're gonna be
some open looks that just are going to end up
in in the lens of every one of our camera operators.
I think that I don't even know where to begin,
but with no grandstands and no rope lines, it's already
(08:50):
going to just be just drastically different to the guys
sitting at home. And I think that's exciting. I don't
think we have to work too hard to to create something.
Just just think of when when you look at a
whole like UM sixteen, and and and and normally what
you're seeing on that left hill side, on the other
(09:11):
side of the water and behind the green to the right,
that's just not going to be anyone there, And that
goes on. So many holes that are are are usually
just tack the patrons and some of the great viewpoint holes.
We haven't really had a look at what it feels
like to the player beyond when they're not playing their
practice rounds in March. This is what it's going to
(09:32):
feel like to them from those those those preparation rounds.
So I'm I'm really looking forward to that. I don't
know about any surprises. You know, obviously they've opened up
the the merchandise to the public online and and hey,
it's it's been a busy stretch just getting to the
start here, making sure everybody's tested, and sadly, you know,
we lost a couple of players the positive tests, and
(09:56):
it's just the the emphasis on safety and protocols dictates
a lot of things. I will be very restrictive where
I'm able to tell I don't anticipate really having much
access of any at all with the players. Won't be
going into the clubhouse this week, so you know, people
keep their distance, and you know, we'll get on the
(10:16):
air and try to try to make this tournament feel
as as as normal as as it always is. And
I really firmly believe it will once we get it started.
It's going to be just great to be back to
the competition and not to have to concern ourselves with
all the other things that have been leading us into
the tournament. What is the one thing you're hearing you're
seeing about the golf course that will feel or will
(10:39):
play different than typically Augusta plays in April Masters. I
think the thing is is just the amount of moisture
that that's been here early in the week and you know,
going on through Thursday for sure, and probably a little
bit every day is just going to make this course
extremely long. I've had had a lot of feedback from
(11:02):
from from members that have known through the years about
how it always plays longer anyway in November, the ball
doesn't fly as far, etcetera, etcetera. But uh, I think
that's gonna be it. I think you also have this
changeover of of of grasses, and it's I'm hearing already
(11:22):
from some of the transcripts I read and and some
of the things that I see on Golf Channel. It's
just the shots around the green are feeling different to
the players. The little chip shots are are not going
to be It's just not going to be the same.
It's uh, it's just a it's a different time of
year and it's not going to affect the way these
players are able to pull that off, but it's it's
(11:45):
different for them. There's no question, Jim, can you pass
along a message to all the players in the field
and remind them, as a guy that doesn't have a
hole in one, that would be really nice if they
stopped skipping it in the hole. For one, I'm so
sick of seeing these videos. How good are these guys.
It's unbelievable that well, I mean, what a week for
rom before the tourney gets started. But that shot. Uh.
(12:09):
I used to by the way, I love to go
out there and as I was in early enough on
a Tuesday, depending on where the championship game was, and
I often would be I could be on the big
course by eleven or twelve on on Tuesday, and I
often would go out to sixteen just just watching the
players have fun doing that. The skip shots. You know
(12:31):
you're a good player, I know you're you've got a
lot of game, But that's not that easy to do.
I mean, it's just if not, I mean, if you
try to you try to skip a shot, and you know,
the thing just just takes a dive right into the water,
never reappears. Um, but the shot by rom My Gosh,
that that's just insane. And I love the fact that
(12:54):
it happened leading into the tournament and certainly got a
lot of people fired up for the event, even Moore.
We're gonna take a quick break and be right back.
I wanted to go back to ninety two, Jim, And
I know you get a lot of questions. I know
(13:15):
you've talked plenty about your relationship with Fred Couples and
you guys in college and chatting about possibly being in
this in this position before. Maybe I missed this, but
I had never read or seen the Final Four story
until this week as I was prepping for the podcast.
Can you enlighten people on Fred Couple's job if you will?
A few days before he went on to win a
(13:37):
green jacket. Yeah, well that was something we had talked
about a long time, and he was the co runner
with Blaine McAllister. Now, you don't blame because you follow
the game so closely, and Blaine's playing uh on the
senior Tour events now, but he won five regular tour
events in his day, and and and and Blaine and
(13:58):
Freddy both came to many app plus it was the year.
It was the year that Duke was going for back
to back championships and standing in their way. Ultimately, on
Monday night, with five freshmen from the University of Michigan,
the Fab five, so that was the final four, they
came to Minneapolis. And they actually traveled there with Dick Harmon,
(14:21):
the late Dick Harman, such a great guy. And Charlie Epps,
who was Blaine's teacher and later Annell Cabrara's helped an
heel in a green jacket. So, uh, the short of
it is, on on Saturday, they were credential, and uh,
it was just a bunch of college kids basically all
over again, living out a dream. You know, they knew
(14:44):
from my days sitting in top Hall t a U
B top Hall. Uh in our little in our little
dorm suite that sounds glamorous, and you say the word sweet,
It wasn't. Trust me. It was like an alarmy barrack.
But we were in rooms one oh one on one
oh three. Uh, and and all of a sudden, even
though we're now a little more than ten years removed
(15:05):
from that. We're just kids again. I can remember staying
at the downtown Minneapolis hotel and the site for the
games was the the the the the Metrodome and many
and it was a good one mile walk maybe uh
as memory serves, but that's no longer. The structure is
(15:25):
long gone. But we decided to walk. It was a
nice day, you know, and early April and Minneapolis, and
we walked and they took turns carrying my briefcase and uh,
you know, they had ball caps on, and they were
having fun with the fact that, uh, you know, their buddy. Uh.
They were going to make me into a big shot.
They're gonna try to create this r like hey, folks
(15:48):
with the tide place, you know, the sidewalk, and people
weren't recognizing them. You know, it was like excuse me,
like they were running interference and security for me. Excuse me,
excuse me, jim Nance's and you know, which is embarrassings
can be. But we got to the arena and we
found their seat locations, which would actually would be right
to the side of us. I was calling the games
back in those days with the great Billy Packer, just
(16:10):
a dear, dear friend and a legend, and I had
those days were just glorious for me. But Billy was
a big golfer. His son Brand you probably know as
I'm really talented, the producer for NBC and Golf Channel.
I'm so proud of his career. But Billy was always
(16:31):
into the game. So he gave them a few assignments
when we first got there. Okay, guys, I don't have
the latest stats on on Indiana. Did you go back
in and bring those out? And you know, they thought
he was being serious. He had them truly running, go
get this, go get that. Uh, jim me, what do
you need? He did a cup of coffee. Yeah, and
they both would take off. You know, one of them
(16:52):
wasn't capable of going and getting a coffee, so they
took their role very seriously. It was a bit though unfortunate,
as we got closer to the first tip. The other
teams there besides Michigan and Duke were Cincinnati with Nick
van Exel and UH In Indiana, Bob Knight had a
team in there um that made a great rally on Saturday,
(17:14):
almost got got through to the championship game. But people
started to recognize, of course, spread especially in the media.
He was writing number one in the world at the time.
Game he had already won a couple of turns to
see One Bay Hill, as I recalled, by like nine shots.
Maybe he had won l A. I believe that was
one of the years he contended, was in a playoff
(17:37):
with Davis. So he's ranked number one in the world
at that time. And now here he was days before
the Masters week and yeah, he's working as a runner.
And that night, on Saturday night, after the game's ended, Uh,
they they I don't know what their plan was, but
they ended up sleeping on a sofa and on the
(17:59):
floor and alternating between my room and it's that downtown
hotel and sleeping uh in the concierge. Uh well right
there right there on on the same flour that I
was residing. So just a couple of kids, it's what
it was, you know, in our early thirties. And on
Sunday they were still talking about maybe sticking around for
(18:21):
the Monday game. Sunday they both came down to to
get some practice. Freddie showed up wearing an Indiana cap.
I think Bob Knight came over and said something at
the table. Um, yeah, I don't. I don't think I
finished that, but a lot of the media saw fred
there and it became almost like an impromptu series of interviews.
(18:41):
You'd get the national writers like John Feinstein who was
there covering games, and Mike Lupa, and it was like
one after another. And I don't think the n c
A like that too much. It was kind of taken
away from their event and the celebrity runner role was
kind of eliminated. That was it. That was the end
(19:01):
of that. I was I was waiting for you to
now ask Dustin Johnson to get you a WiFi password
or something. And I just did a little different, a
little different I could use, you know. But I can
remember when Freddie last I said, I do remember, and
he would remember this too. I just I try to
be uh judicious and when I put a thought into
(19:22):
his head, and that was throughout his career. You try
to send a little messages like you went back in college,
you know, as a friend, just a word of encouragement.
So I know, the last thing I said to him
on Sunday was, Hey, this is the week man, this
is the week that we we used to practice and rehearse.
So I'll see you, but I'll see you for sure
Sunday in Butler Cavin. I've used that line a few
(19:43):
other times on some other guys, you know, I'll see
a Sunday talking about the cabin. But first I've ever
said it was to Fredday, just to give him a thought,
get him back in a little cough mindset and let
him know that this was the time. And April the twelve,
that's Sunday, it was this time. It was just an amazing,
amazing experience to watch your friend reach reach that lifetime
(20:06):
goal and just like get At times of my life
I think about that is like the most special moment
of my career is to be able to be in
the cabin and watch someone that you love as a
brother achieved that moment. It was. It was very special.
It always will be. And I can imagine as special
(20:27):
as it was as a broadcaster, as someone fairly new
to this job, this role, it was probably in a
way tough to be objective to not, you know, throw
yourself right into it, because I mean it was I'm
imagining you being emotional and you've been so into every shot,
the ball hanging up on the hill there at twelve,
I mean it probably was difficult to do your job
(20:50):
well and balance both roles. They had to finish the
third round on Sunday that here Reddy was playing with
Craig Barry, so it was very much like the conditions
this week. Of course, I had a lot of water
on it. Uh But yeah, he's to spark some thoughts.
I can remember really late in the broadcast, I was
(21:11):
getting jittery about about this pending possible green jacket ceremony
and the weight of it. It sounds silly, but you know,
you do these interviews so well, and you know you
do think him through and you want to do them right.
You want to do him professionally. But I began to
kind of overthink it and process it. And uh so
(21:33):
after he played in the morning with Craig Perry and
he was in a battle with Raymond Floyd in the
final round, and around the fourteen or fifteen fold, I
started to get us since that this was actually going
to happen. And I believe it was been right. It
was that uh you know fifteen back in those days,
he brought me in at some point. I was only
(21:58):
in butler cabin at that time. It's not like today.
A work, I do Butler Cabin and run up to
the eighteenth and then come back for the end of
the show into the cabin. I was just the host,
and uh, I would interview players and bring us on
the air and things like that. There's some resets out
of out of commercials. But Ben asked me a question
about you've known Freddie a long time, what would this
(22:18):
moment like to him? And I've never gone back and
watched the broadcast, in part because it gets me nervous.
I get that anxious feeling. But I remember not answering
that question on the air, UH with much area. Addition,
I sounded h less than I think professional. Maybe it
(22:41):
wasn't I inserted any personal beliefs. It's just I just
I don't think I sounded as though I was an
experienced broadcaster. This was my seventh Masters at this point, uh,
it was going to be my fifth Green Jacket presentation,
and I realized was so focused on what he was doing.
(23:02):
I wasn't ready and it was probably a thirty second answer.
I would love to have back again. I guess one
of these days, maybe I'll go back and hear what
I said. But I remember kicking myself a little bit
in saying and that was not like high quality commentary,
and uh, you know, you gotta get a grip here, man,
you pretty soon you're gonna be on camera trying to
get through this. So and when came into the cabin,
(23:25):
it was hard. It was truly the hardest thing I've
ever had to do in my career. And I grew
from it. As you know, I think it's true in
any walk of life when you face an adversity, let's
just isolate it here to your job, and you get
through it, and you get stronger, and you you get
tougher because you were able to survive it. That's probably
(23:46):
not the right word, but you grow from it, you
learn from it. That particular situation in the cabin, I
really felt like I was on the brink of a meltdown,
like just a like overjoyed and so emotional avount it
meant to Fred. I really thought it might have a
hard time kind of holding it together, but I did.
(24:06):
And I didn't say anything on a personal level until
the very end my last questions. As Frank J. Kennyan said,
last question and give him the jacket into my earpiece,
I said, I think back to our days at the
University of Houston. I wanted to get a lot of
the guys kind of into this moment somehow, to be
represented there. I think of Paul Marshawan, who is here
(24:29):
this week and remains Freddie's teacher and a former teammate
and greatest guy of all time. I think of Paul Marshaun.
I think of Blame McCalister, I think of John Horne,
even I. We all used to say someday, You're gonna
look great in a green jacket. And Fred put his
hand over his eyes to shield his ability to look
(24:50):
at me, and really turned his head too away and said, well,
you know, Fred always kind of starts things out with
a well and buys himself from time. And he said, well,
I always kind of this was the tournament meant the most,
and I always thought I could play. It was a
very pedestrian kind of straight answer, because Fred was feeling
(25:10):
the same thing that I was. We write about it
post with many times. He was afraid of that interview.
He was afraid that he could hold it together. But
he did. And I turned it over to Mr Stevens,
Jack Stevens, and I was still in such stunned belief.
I didn't even get out of my chair. I don't
know why everybody was standing up was saying the cream jacket.
(25:34):
I was still sitting down like I was in days
and and I said something on the air about it's
a perfect fit. I think they had given him a
jacket that would have fit Woozy, who was a champion.
It was about gysically Lowe's elbows that Fred was about
to say, well, not really, um, but we we signed
off and had a hug. I didn't realize the cameras
(25:56):
were still honest, and it was a magical, magical, magical day,
my favorite, my favorite day of my career, really, really amazing.
I've got a couple more questions. I know you're you're
a little tight on time, but I got a couple
more for you, if that's okay. Sure, I did. I
did want to throw this atches so I do a podcast.
You actually just said the name of the podcast while
you were talking. By the way, I'm assuming we're gonna
(26:18):
cut that and probably use it over and over again
all the time. The podcast is called Get a Grip.
I do it with Maxhoma in the field this week,
and I'm not gonna lie to you when I say
I may or may not have sent an all caps
text message to him yesterday when the parents came out,
because he gets Fred couples this week, and I was thinking,
you know, Freddie has to be a top five pick
(26:38):
for anybody playing in their first Masters for a Thursday
and Friday grouping. I mean, it's you couldn't ask for
someone better to play with. You know, Max is from California,
He's a Dodgers fan. I just feel like that's gonna
make Max more comfortable getting a chance to walk around
Augusta National with this legend of the place. I think
that you read on that as accurate, and I'm excited.
(27:01):
I saw that too, and I look forward to getting
to know Max better in the years ahead. And that's
going to be a a big couple of days for him.
And he did draw the perfect guy to play with
because Fred will be so concerned. Of course, we'll care
about his own game, but this is who he is.
He'll be overly generous to make sure Max feels super
(27:24):
comfortable and he and I know Max will will enjoy
having the chance to talk to someone and maybe divert
some of the pressure into things like the Dodgers, and
you've got the most willing guy in the world to
be able to talk about, you know, not only the
golf course and situations and the pressure of it, but
(27:45):
when it comes to sports, Fred's memory bank runs really deep.
So I'm excited for Max for that, for that pairing.
And yeah, he won't be h he won't be melting
down like like I was. He he will he will
have a rip and I hope he plays great. I hope,
I hope so as well. The last thing, and I
had to bring it up. I mean, we've gone twentysomething
(28:07):
minutes and haven't mentioned a name, and it's not the name.
Probably most people think I gotta bring up Bryson. You know.
I think a lot of people see you working with
Tony Romo, you know, in these these football games for
for the NFL, and you know, Tony has so much energy.
I feel like it you feed off his energy and
both of your energy levels go up because of Tony
(28:27):
and how good he is at his job. I almost
feel like Bryson is a little like that. With golf.
The energy level of all of us getting a chance
to talk about it has ramped up because of this
new Bryson, and now we get to see him play
the golf course that we all were excited to see
him play with this new distance. How much fun has
it been for you to get to call Bryson's play
(28:50):
this year and watch this, you know, takeover of the game,
this completely new approach to golf where let's hit it
four D yards and see how we can do well.
You probably thought that you were leading me down the
road in a question about Tiger, but when you started
to say I'm gonna bring up a name, I actually
(29:11):
the first name that I thought you're gonna bring up
was Bryson. Is the show? Is the show? And we
had well, I broadcast ten tournaments over the summer. He
won one of them, uh in quite a bryson Es fashion.
That was at Detroit Golf Club when he won the
Rocket Mortgage, and then he finished fourth at at the
(29:34):
p G Championship. So those were a couple of times
where I really got to see Bryson in the heat
of it. And of course I have other years too,
But this is the new Bryson and it's changing the game,
and it really is coming at a time where we
don't know how much longer we're going to have Tiger
(29:57):
competing at the highest level. I hope it's for a
long time. And I'm the last guy that's ever gonna
say it's fading away. I'm gonna give him every chance
to keep going for another five or ten years, as
long as he's healthy. But I've often wondered, what will
the game look like when that whatever that day is,
when Tiger is not the first story? You know, is
(30:18):
the game going to be in good hands? Well, I
really feel like with this brigade of twenty somethings that
are out there, the game is kind of established words
going with the next generation. And then on top of it,
you've got what Bryce is doing, and it is it
is such a show that the game is going to
(30:41):
have something at its center as far as an attraction
and attention grab and it's going to last a long time.
And now, yeah, you're right, is is this going to
get other guys to try to follow this this approach?
I write a column every month for golf tyed Us
and it's been a real honor to to try to
(31:03):
comple together a few thoughts and I've been doing it
for a couple of years. And when he wanted Detroit
that night. I was curious what the deadline was on
the next issue, which would be coming out August one.
The tournament was at the end of June, but you
have some advanced deadlines everything. I already had submitted my
column for that next issue. I called Guy Yoakum, who
(31:25):
was just a tremendous guy to work with. I said, Guy,
is there any wiggle room here? Ken I put together
a column quickly on Bryson. I'll check. He got back
and said, you will. Basically, you have today Monday. You
have Monday that they've already kind of bind it up
and everything. I sat down, and I'm not kidding. I
wrote in one hour a column about Bryson and how
(31:48):
he at that point, I've never had a top ten
in a major. He had an eleventh somewhere, but he
had never had a top ten officially. But I said
some things such as, you know, today's players better be careful.
Believe me, he is out to dominate. And I've been
around him enough to know that he's driven to be
the best. And it was a big endorsement of what
(32:10):
he was doing. And we got the column in and
the column came out. You know, days before the Harding Park,
and it really expressed some things that since that time
had kind of come true. Um, I saw it at Detroit.
I've seen the kid enough times. I've had enough interaction
with him where I felt like I knew what was
in his head and and and and trust me when
(32:32):
I say this, he's just getting started. You know. The
wingfoot thing was not on Oir. It was. It was
on NBC's air and it was an amazing broadcast, an
amazing performance by him to win by six. But it's
just getting started. And now as far as this week goes,
he's got a couple of nice things to fall back on.
I heard somebody say last night we was best finish
(32:54):
Eperduss was only time for one. Well. That happened at sixteen,
when he was an amateur. And I remember that year
really well because I had said something else in Golf
Digest in the months leading up to that Masters that
this similar, similar talk that I thought he could change
the game. I didn't know it's gonna be with his body.
I thought it's about the the the same length shafted club. Um.
(33:16):
But that year when he played here as an amateur
in turn Pro the followers week to thirty five holes.
He was in the last pairing on Friday. By the
times worked out. He stood on the tea on Friday
and he was in second alone and he his tea
shot never got through the tunnel. It rattled around in
the magnolia's and the pines off to the left of sea,
and he ended up incurring a penalty shot and ended
(33:39):
up taking a drop over by like eight t it
made a seven. But for thirty five holes as an amateur,
he was right there. Um, he hit me, he was,
he was in the mix and he finished twenty one.
Uh and don't forget last year he got off to
a great start, put together a six hundred part round.
(34:00):
He could play this course, he's played it well before.
He reinvented himself and um, I'm expecting big things. And
while we're just talking about him, and you can weigh
in on this, imagine if he does win this, what
this would mean to the game. If on Sunday he
walks away and he's one of the last two majors.
(34:20):
Holy smokes, what a time for the sport in terms
of drawing people to the game and wondering what's the
interest level gonna be after Tiger and all that kind
of thing. It will be, it would be just huge.
But he's gonna win here. It is not a question
in my mind. He's gonna win here, and it just
might be this week. Yeah, I'm with you on this.
(34:41):
I just feel like and I love that you brought
up you know, his plays and and or I remember
that Master so well. He was playing. I believe he
was playing with speed. And the story was this amateur
is you know, he knows history, he knows he knows
so much about golf. He loves everything about the the
olden times of golf, which is actually kind of ironic
now that he hits it, you know, four hundred yards
(35:01):
and he's using a forty eight inch driver. But you know,
this was a guy that was was an amateur, that
wasn't scared to try out new stuff, and all of
a sudden he was in the in the hunt at
the Masters, and to your point, he makes a seven
on eighteen and that was kind of the end of
his his bid to run. It reminded me a little
of the Tiger Run when he hit the flagstick, and
of course the penalty that came there on fifteen the year,
but it was it was wild to see. It's been
a lot of fun to watch. I feel like I
(35:23):
get more questions now about Bryson than I've ever received
about any professional golfer not named Tiger Woods. So yeah,
it's if nothing else, it's great for golf because it
allows us to see something we haven't seen much and
allows us to see the like you said, the future
of the game when Tiger and Phil and everybody moves on.
My last question, Jim, who has their name on your
(35:44):
backyard hole in one plaque? The most? Whose name is
there the most brand? Snedeker? Really, he's the uh He's
the first to make it twice. He was the first
to make it, so I had to go order up
a new plaque and he's at the top of the list.
On the on the Rock of Shame, it's called uh. Yeah,
(36:07):
it's been a lot of fun. I gotta get you
out there the next time. I know you were in
the area last December, unfortunately I was out of town,
but man, I'd love to have you come by and
not getting I've had some guys though they've tried and
you know, hit a small buck. I had a large
buck really try to make it and it still counts.
I don't care how many things. So you can sit
there all day until you make it, as far as
I'm concerned. But they're only a believe now of seventeen
(36:30):
names and are well here. Here's the thing. I'm never
gonna put my name, ok, never I I hit. You
gotta realize I hit hundreds of shots there every week.
So by dumb luck, I've made it, you know a
few times. So recently Freddie, in fact in October, was
(36:50):
out at double We had two great days, and he
was watching my four year old son Jamison hit Paul's.
He could not get on the green down stifty three
yards with a ball applies about um. But Freddie was
watching him, and my son has a unbelievably good good swing. Uh.
And then Freddie started hitting some shots, and I mean,
(37:13):
I have it all on the video. Was just awesome
to watch him. And it's not the first time obviously
he's hit balls up there. I wanted his name on
the rocket fame, and as dumb luck would have it,
I made it while hitting shots, you know, one after another,
we'd alternate shots and he didn't. So, uh, yeah, Fred's
not on there, but you know, we've got Nicholson, who,
(37:34):
of course one full blown social media with it, as
did Nick Faldough Poulters on the Pulses There Billy Horschel
first ever hall on one he made in his career,
by the way, he said, I'm gonna count as official.
I had never made a hall on but I'm going
to count it. Uh, And he's made one, sense but
that that will always be his first. Michael Wilbon made
(37:55):
it from ESPN. Great guy was out visiting doing a
charity thing and came up to the house and knocked
at the hole. So yeah, there and Snudge was the first,
and and and then he came back and made it
again last year. So I love that guy. I'm glad
to see his game is starting to surround into form
and it's been a tough fall for him losing his mom,
(38:17):
but I would love to see him play well this week.
We're missing the name Shane Bacon in the name Bacon
on there, I've we have a Bacon curse. It's a
family curse. Nobody none of my dad, my uncle, big golfers,
their entire lives, none of us have a one. So
maybe it's maybe it's the name's backyard that we need
to to pull that off, but Jim will count it
(38:39):
as official. I heard you say that earlier. Anytime he
goes in, it's official, that's what I say. But Jim,
I really appreciate the time. I know, I know you're
you're very busy. Thanks so much for for for the
time and the stories. I can't wait to watch it.
You know, we talk about a tradition unlike any other.
You in the jacket in the booth at Augusta is
the tradition. So we cannot wait to watch it. Really
(39:00):
is special to be a part of. You're nice to
say that, and I'm a big fan of yours, and
I appreciate your passion for the game. And uh, I
can relate so much too when I hear you relate
so much to kind of what runs through my veins
and my my. You know, this lifelong love affair with
the game. I know you have it and admire that
(39:21):
Mayer the way you're able to articulate it. Thanks for
having me on. Let's do it again sometime, absolutely anytime.
Thanks so much, Jim. We're gonna take a quick break
and be right back. A big, big thanks. I can't
(39:46):
thank him enough to Jim Nance for a joining on
a Wednesday. He joined Wednesday of Masters week to chat
about what's going to happen Thursday and beyond. So you
know what, if you see Jim Nance ever in your life,
just give him a high five or even a thumbs up,
because he's obviously a great fella and a great dude
and an unbelievable broadcaster. And uh and two things in
my life now I want to accomplish and I could
(40:07):
do both in the same place. I want to make
a hole in one and I want to make a
hole in one in Jim Nance's backyard. So just make
it in his backyard, and you check both the boxes.
Have a great week. Enjoy this again. This is so
unique and so different. The year has been all over
the place. We have all dealt with so many issues,
(40:28):
so many things, you know, so many stressful moments, so
many testing and trying moments in our lives. Enjoy this.
Enjoy the couch. Get your kiddo, if they're not a
golf fan, to sit with you for half an hour
and watch it. Get your husband or your wife or
a friend to just be a part of a November Masters.
This is going to be great. It's gonna be beautiful,
(40:50):
it's gonna be unique, and I just urge you to really,
really really live in the moment for the next four
days as I hope to do, because I am fired
up in and for a for a unique back to
back Master's experience. Have a great week, Good luck in
your pools, good luck if you're going out early or
late to play a little bit of golf, and we
will check in with you. Following the two thousand twenty Masters.
(41:15):
The clubhouse was Shane Bacon as a production of I
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit
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